A former Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in South Africa, Bola Babarinde, has called on President Bola Tinubu to act swiftly in probing the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, over the alleged misappropriation of funds, running to a tune of N585.18m, levelled against her.
Babarinde who made the call while reacting to the allegation on Thursday, said President Tinubu should allow the issue to drag for too long, before taking necessary decisions on those who are involved in the scandal.
According to him, all other corrupt individuals should be flushed out of the system as soon as possible.
The President on Monday, suspended Ms Edu over the alleged transfer of N585 million into a private account.
Reacting to the development, the APC diaspora chairman said, “The president should not relent on fishing out those bad eggs in his administration that are bent on tarnishing his image. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should deploy a robust ICT system to channel payments directly to beneficiaries of his palliatives.
“Such novel innovation should be explored without further delay, enough of excuses to steal funds meant for millions of downtrodden and vulnerable Nigerians by few corrupt officials.”
He added that “This case must not be allowed to drag unnecessarily in any way as it would determine how this administration would be portrayed in the fight against corruption.”
He further noted that the impunities in the previous government “are definitely an albatross to the present administration,” noting that “with recent allegations and revelations of misconduct in the National Social Investment Programmes Agency (NSIPA), it seems hope is gradually being eroded and lost in our country if decisive actions are not taken to reverse the trend.”
Babarinde also praised Tinubu for suspending NSIPA Director, Halima Shehu to give room for proper investigation, especially for the obvious reason of championing integrity in the ministry.
He said, “The youths of this great country are being let down by these two individuals if finally found guilty.
“Whoever is found guilty, no matter how highly placed and any party or interest that wants to interfere with these cases should be exposed. This administration should not be dragged into the mud. We cannot afford these scandals to avoid Nigerians losing hope in the president.”
He added, “When individuals involved are dealt with, there must be an urgent need to upgrade and be serious about fixing our system and lay premium on enforcement of laws and improvement on the existing ones with loopholes which make them easy to circumvent.”
